Chapter 80: Chapter 74

"I told you, you didn't have to cook anything," Norman said.

"But you hardly know how to cook," responded Lucy, "and you can't keep eating takeout. That's not healthy. You didn't buy any, did you?"

"Looking after my health now, are we?"

"Come on, Dad."

"I came straight home, I swear. I'm actually starving."

When the meal was set and both took their seats, Norman took a bite out of his chicken casserole. "This is really good."

"Thanks, Dad. I did a bit of shopping around here. I'm surprised at how good the food is in this area."

"It should be for the price."

"So this is the life you've been living, right?"

"It has been but it's all coming to an end. We're going to have to move out of here by the end of the month. It's too expensive for me to afford and the legal fees are going to take a lot of my money to settle. Looks like I'm going to live the impoverished life for a while."

"I don't care where we move to, as long as we can stay here in the city."

"Why is that?"

"I'm finally starting to make friends here. It took a while, but I'm starting to open up to them."

"That's great news, but dear, it may be possible that I have to move to a new state. This city is very expensive."

"I know. I'm just really hoping. Mom used to move from place to place so I couldn't make any friends without losing them. I don't want to lose the friends I made here."

He sighed. "Then I'll figure something out. If you don't want to move, then I'll just figure a way to remain in this city."

She smiled. "Thanks, Dad."

They continued to savor the meal she created, enjoying their conversation as the casserole whittled down to a few morsels.

"That was very good,” Norman said after he finished his meal. “I've never had something better."

"Stop it, Dad. It wasn't that great."

"But it was. You are a good cook. You should be a chef."

"No, I'm not that good. I just follow the video's instructions."

She took both of their plates but Norman stopped her. "Let me take care of the dishes."

"Do you even know how to use the dishwasher?"

"No, but I know how to wash a dish."

"You should learn to use the dishwasher."

He took both their plates to the kitchen, "What's so bad about cleaning a few dishes? Even I can do that." His remark would immediately be regretted upon finding the sink full of dirty pots, pans, and utensils.

He looked over at Lucy who was smiling, "A bit of trial and error was required to get that casserole."

He simply laughed it off, "Go do your homework already."

After twenty minutes of washing dishes and cleaning the sink, he wiped his hands on the kitchen towel and took a seat on the couch. He grabbed the remote but hesitated to press the power button. Putting the remote away, he got up and walked towards the window, overlooking the night sky, and gave out a sigh.

At this point, Lucy came out of her room. "I'm done with my homework."

"Well good."

"Dad, I've been meaning to talk to you for a while."

"Well, I'm free right now."

Norman sat on a reclining chair as Lucy took her seat on the couch. "Like I said, I've started making friends again. But there's one friend who I consider... more than a friend. He's a boy and... I have strong feelings for him."

"I see. So you're at that age, huh?"

"That doesn't make me an adult, you know."

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"I know, Lucy."

"But I don't know what to do about this. I mean, on the one hand, I know I shouldn't be with him right now. I got so many things to do, and I want to get to know you more now that I have the chance to do so. I don't know anything about you, Dad. I figure we can make up for lost time. But at the same time, I really like him. He's very special to me. I really want to be his girlfriend."

"I know exactly what you are going through. I felt the same way when I was your age. There were a lot of girls that I liked, thought that I was head over heels for them. But unfortunately, I don't know what would have happened because I avoided them. My parents would never approve, telling me that the only thing I should be doing is studying. I just did what I was told and never bothered with having a girlfriend."

"So you never fell in love?"

"I'm afraid I haven't. But even at my age, I would love to think that I can still find someone. I still feel strongly that there's someone out there for me."

"But this is more than just my feelings. He also likes me. He confessed his love for me earlier. We even kissed. But afterward, I felt kind of bad."

"And what gave you this guilt?"

"Because we went out once and it was a disaster. He was very uncomfortable and I felt that people were staring at us. I feel like I did something bad but I really just wanted to make him happy. I felt like I was doing something terrible."

"So you're trying to figure out if you should continue seeing this boy?"

"It's not like I'm planning on never seeing him again or anything, it's just that... we really like each other very much. When we were lonely and thought nobody loved us, we were there for each other. The more lonely we got, the more time we spent, and the more time we spent, the more in love we became. I won't forget those precious moments we spent, but they were full of pain and sorrow. I don't want to go through that again."

"Sounds like this is too much for you to handle. Why not put this decision aside? After all, waiting is also an option."

"Well, even if we did wait... he's different than other boys. Like, there's a... rather wide difference, let's just say."

"A 'wide" difference, huh?"

"Yeah and waiting won't change that. So even if we waited till I graduated high school or even college, I will still be in the same situation."

"Then tell me, why do you want to decide right now? Surely you can wait, right? Or is he pressuring you to answer?"

"We just told ourselves that we'd think about it, but I assume we'll have to decide on Saturday."

"Okay. I think I understand now. Would you like to know what I think?"

"Yes, please."

"I think that you're too preoccupied. Consider your responsibilities. You have school, you have homework, you got new friends to attend to." He got up from his chair and sat next to Lucy to give her a hug and a kiss. "You have your father, and your father loves you very much." Lucy couldn't help but smile. "And there's going to be more and more responsibilities put upon you in the coming future. There's so much to do because you're still so young. In a few years, you'll graduate middle school, then you'll enter high school. Then there will be college and after that, you got to find a career, and maybe start your own business. Either way, you got a lot to do before you become an adult. So why bother worrying about this? After all, he likes you, right?"

"Yeah, he does."

"Then he can wait, can't he? If he's not pressuring you, he'll understand you have too much going on in your life. If he is being pushy and demands you give him an answer, he's not worth it. He'll just use you and take advantage of you."

"He's not like that, Dad."

"Do you really know that? Do you really know who he is?"

"Dad, he's not a bad person. He would never do anything terrible to me."

"Alright. I'll take your word for it. But my point stands, you are thinking too much about this when you should just be living your life. Your young, you're healthy, and you got a lot to look forward to. So go have fun and be with your friends. You already have enough to worry about. A boy isn't worth it right now or ever. So tell him, 'I'm not ready to make a decision so you're just going to have to wait.'"

"That's kind of mean to say."

"Then say it more courteously. Any way you say it if you two are meant to be together forever, then waiting a few years isn't going to hurt your relationship, is it?"

"I never thought of it that way."

"That's what I would do if I was in your shoes." He got up from the couch. "Take it from me who's been living his life under another person's whims: youth, just as life, is too short. Enjoy what little of it you have and minimize your restrictions. If you feel that anything will hold you down, then don't try to rationalize it. It's not worth it in the end."

Lucy followed and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Dad."

After he patted her head, she headed towards her room.

"Lucy.” He said as she was opening the door. “Your newfound friends. One of them wouldn't happen to be that young man you were with at that train station, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. Johan."

"He seems like a nice guy. I'd like to meet him one day."

Lucy smiled. "I'd also like you to meet him." She turned around and resumed going to her room.

Norman sat back on the couch and pondered, 'I have no idea what I'm doing.'

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